In the living room,
Oler and his female companion sit under the tree-shaped crystal chandelier. The wall on the left is sunken inward, revealing a peach-brown five-layer bookshelf and a dazzling array of gilding items above. Hardcover ancient book with cover.
Old-style Austrian-style houses will regard books as part of the architectural furnishings. For example, the famous New Hofburg Palace has more than 2.4 million various ancient books and parchments.
“Oh my god, there must be millions of pages in this. I don’t understand, has anyone really read these books?”
I didn’t finish the sucking in my hand before entering the room. The lady's cigarettes and lighter were politely but firmly confiscated by the housekeeper.
The sexy girl who came to Europe from Hollywood to develop her career was a little unhappy.
However, the other party’s attention soon fell on the dark blue leather-covered Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1875 on the upper shelf.
She was half amazed and half puzzled and asked casually, "It's just a show to scare people."
"It's just decoration. It's been there for a century. Unless someone I am particularly interested in certain entries in the Victorian Industrial Exposition, otherwise I would not be able to think of any reason to read them."
Anna didn't think much of the girl's careless tone. Yes, Weiwei made a joke.
"I guess that's it. When I was a guest at so-and-so's house in Beverly Hills, the big bookshelf in that bitch's house was almost never opened. It was just used to pretend to be an intellectual lady in front of reporters. That’s all.”
The girl casually mentioned the name of another star who was also famous for her sex appeal and had once snatched her chance to be the heroine in an A-level big-budget movie. She nodded and revealed that this was true. look.
"Uh, don't mind, I'm not talking about you, I have no other meaning."
The girl also realized that her words were a bit rude.
She turned to Anna and smiled, "Miss Elena, your skin is so well-maintained that I envy you."
"A selfish American."
Oler quietly mouthed "This is the Yankee" to his cousin, put on an expression as if you still expect Uncle Sam to understand what education is, and shrugged quietly.
His eyes also glanced from the four-meter-high bookshelf for a moment.
Oler knew that his cousin was a very artistic person, and she had maintained a very self-disciplined habit since she was a child.
This old-fashioned bookshelf is tall and more beautiful than practical.
You need to use a special small ladder to get the books on the two shelves. Cousin Anna’s legs are inconvenient, so it is almost purely for decoration.
However, many of the books in the bottom bookshelf were replaced almost every time he came to the manor to teach.
Obviously it was read carefully.
Oler saw a copy of Graham Greene's The Core of Destiny on the middle table of the bookshelf, as well as a book with slight edges on the corners.The curly and yellow little prince.
It seemed that the owner of the manor had just read these two books yesterday or in the morning and had not put them back yet.
This little prince is an old face,
Oler quietly raised his eyebrows.
Since childhood, the books on the bookshelf have changed several times, but he can almost always see the existence of this fairy tale book in the center of the bookshelf.
He I remember that when I entered the door,
the brand new white paper that cousin Anna was holding also had the name "theitterce" written on the cover.
It seems that
my cousin still has a mysterious attachment to this fairy tale as she did when she was a child.
When the female companion was about to brag to Anna about her Hollywood past and gossip, Oler interrupted her at the right time and got to the point.
"Happy birthday, cousin Anna. I'm sorry that my father was in Philadelphia recently to discuss an important bank acquisition and was unable to attend your 22nd birthday party."
"He Please ask me to say hello to our beautiful Countess and wish you good health."
Oler did not give the gift to the butler for filing, but handed it directly to Anna, "Take a look, my boss. Dad specially selected a birthday gift for you.”
“August, when will I take you to my house to play? I also recently got a golden retriever named Rachel. She has quite a personality. What a gentle beauty."
Oler said hello to the big dog on one side and reached out to touch the other's ears.
August rolled his eyes in a very humane manner.
It proudly scratched its chin with its hind legs, rubbed it slightly to the side for more than ten centimeters, and accurately avoided the hand of this prodigal.
"Cousin, your August is still as cool as before. Just like you, he is extremely aloof."
Oler shook his head helplessly.
People say pets are like their owners.
In the eyes of outsiders, this big hunting dog is extremely cold and graceful.
Ever since he was a child, he has wanted to seize the opportunity to touch each other, and he almost had his hand bitten by it twice.
Anna ignored the other party’s teasing and accepted the other party’s gift.
Not long after she turned 20, she completed her credits in college and graduated as an outstanding graduate.
I had been working for more than a year until I was suspended by Sir Brown, the head of Oil Painting Magazine.
Today is her 22nd birthday.
The large tea party in the manor was a social banquet held to celebrate Anna's birthday.
She pulled out a ten-inch sketch oil painting on canvas from the small oil painting tube handed over by Ole.
It was a portrait of a dignified little girl wearing palace clothes with her bare back, and next to it was a similarly rolled-up document.
This is an insurance deposit certificate. According to the contents of the document,
This painting was exhibited at the Rococo Palace Special Exhibition at the Berlin Art Museum in 2007. At that time, the insurance price was One hundred and three thousand euros.
“The portrait of Princess Theresa, the daughter of Louis XVI, is from Madame Le Brun. It has signs of restoration. My father met it in a pawn shop some time ago. It cost about 270,000 euros. , It’s not expensive, but I think you should like it.”
Mrs. Le Brun was a court painter at the end of the Bourbon Dynasty and a close friend of the beheaded Queen Mary.
Her painting skills are not as famous as those great rococo painters such as Boucher and Walter.
But she was one of the only famous female artists in European classical history before the modern Impressionist master Miss Mary.
It has special commemorative significance.
"A very expensive gift, thank you."
Anna nodded gently and thanked, "Say hello to Mr. Kruger for me. If it is convenient, I would like to spend the Christmas holiday this year Invite him to your home"
A birthday gift worth three hundred thousand euros is considered a very generous gift for a family like theirs.
"Of course, this means if your father is not busy at that time or is not angry with me." Anna said lightly.
"Uh"
Oler's mouth opened.
"It's not hard to guess right. Regarding the cover of Mr. Hyperion's video, saying angry is probably quite polite. You know, Kruger is not the only one who did not attend the birthday party this year. Mr. Alone."
Anna didn't seem to care much.
She smiled and straightened the little gauze crown on her head with her hand, "It's a lot quieter here."
Thomas' video was like a huge stone hitting Anna. in life.
Van Doorn’s social media swipes and the suspension from Oil Painting Magazine are just small ripples. The biggest undercurrent is the part under the lake that ordinary people cannot see,
The dissatisfaction of the old European Chinese.
This has nothing to do with Detective Cat or Van Dorn, it is because of Miss Elena’s self-introduction
“Just call me Anna. I am not a countess. I am not one of those British people who like to be related to the royal family. I am just an ordinary citizen of Austria. If there is anything special, it is only because I was born lame."
Thomas is asking for Anna's favor. After agreeing, this sentence was specially made into the cover of Mr. Hyperion’s channel video to attract network traffic.
Actually,
Anna’s statement is quite dangerous.
The social atmosphere in North America, Canada and France where Thomas is not very interested in monarchy and aristocracy may be okay.
However, in more conservative European regions, public figures in the upper class criticize the royal family for being barbaric.taboo.
There are still bans abroad, which is the so-called CE culture.
In addition to making remarks such as racial discrimination and animal cruelty, attacking the monarch is also a taboo.
Unless the audience of your program is this kind of group, trolling the royal family will easily be blocked.
The most typical example is Clarkson, the famous BBC host nicknamed Gorilla, one of the highest-paid TV hosts in the world and the godfather of car culture, who fell into this.
Not long ago, Amazon officially announced that he had canceled the cooperation with the next season of the new show because he criticized Prince Harry and his wife in the newspaper.
Amazon is still an American company.
Considering Anna's identity, her words made the relatives and old friends of the Elena family sound a bit rebellious.
It’s so harsh
Now is no longer twenty years ago.
From Spain to the Netherlands, and even the British royal family, which has been stable for three hundred years, the royal families of this generation in these remaining monarchy countries are somewhat shaky, and the public support rate continues to decline.
At this point in time,
It is understandable that Anna said such a personalized opening statement in a YouTube video with more than 100 million views, which offended some people.
"Cousin, it is really hard for people to say such words."
Oler shook his head, "Especially this year is so special. I heard that your name did not appear in Breton's There is a reason why the new monarch is on the list of guests invited to attend the coronation in Westminster."
He crossed his arms on his knees and said, "Irina was there last time. The family was not invited a century ago in 1910. That time it was because of the war, but this time it was because I told the truth that no one wanted to hear. I would rather live in the old dream, but I have the courage to wake up alone." Anna asked in a calm tone.
There was a brief moment of silence in the air. Cousin Ole stopped talking and lowered his head to play with the nails on his palms.
Papapapa
On the other hand, the sexy actress clapped softly.
There were stars in her eyes, "Wow, sister Anna, you are so cool. Are you interested in developing a career in the film industry? You can become the next Princess of Monaco."
She said The Princess of Monaco refers to Grace Kelly, the most famous actress in Hollywood in the 1950s and Hitchcock's favorite heroine. She is famous for her grace and elegance, and therefore married into the royal family.
Oler's female companion is the kind of person who is very simple and self-centered, with a bit of naive stupidity, a typical American character.
She casually called Anna a traitor just before entering the door, even with the jealousy of a beautiful woman seeing an even more beautiful woman.
In an instant, I was attracted by the other party’s independent and strong personality.Conquered by her aura, she began to call the other person Anna sister.
Miss Irina’s beauty is not just about appearance,
She is like an exquisite and plain white ivory ball sculpture of oriental art, with a beautiful and moist surface and an equally engraved soul on the inside. With gorgeous patterns, powerful and profound.
Anna smiled casually at the other party, not wanting to answer such meaningless questions.
She turned her head to look at cousin Ole and took the initiative to change the topic.
"Since Mr. Kruger is so dissatisfied with me, but he is still willing to send such an expensive birthday gift, is there anything you want me to do?"
Anna asked casually .
"Cousin, you think too much. Even if my father is a little dissatisfied, he still cares about you." Ole smiled coquettishly.
"As for Uncle Kara, you may need to mention it to your cousin. Anna, have you met him before?"
"Uncle Kara has conveyed his wish to the housekeeper before. I declined the invitation to watch the horse racing. We met briefly at the birthday party, so I left on the pretext of feeling unwell."
Anna frowned and thought about it.
There are banquets for birthdays, or there are as many balls and salons as there were in the old days in Europe.
The main purpose is to invite people in the upper class circles to enhance their connections, connect with each other, and discuss business with each other.
It is part of traditional social etiquette.
It is very similar to how modern wealthy people like to play golf. They are public activities whose potential social attributes are greater than their actual celebration and fitness attributes.
Anna belongs to the kind of rent-collecting landlady.
It’s just that compared to ordinary landowners, she owns more land.
In terms of property, the main assets are various real estates, but not much is involved in modern finance. They are also managed by professional financial managers such as Schonbrunn.
She has never been interested in such social gatherings.
I showed up casually today and said a few words, then I slipped away to hide in the walnut forest and paint quietly.
"Now that you mention it, he did seem to be hesitant to speak." Anna pondered for a moment, "It's not like he wanted to borrow money from Mr. Kruger."
Uncle Carla is Aunt Anna's younger brother, but his personality is completely different from Anna's elegant aunt. He likes racing, horse racing, beautiful yachts, and playing Texas Hold'em poker.
Then again,
This is actually quite an old-school European libertine style.
Such aristocratic children were everywhere in the 19th century, from St. Petersburg to Berlin, whether it was Tsarist Russia or Prussia.
Even the hobbies and interests they like are not fundamentally different from those of their predecessors two centuries ago, and they can’t come up with anything new.
At most, the tool of gambling has changed from playing classical whist bridge to playing Texas Hold'em poker.
OnlyEven the prodigal son has the same ending.
Especially after the collapse of the empire and the decline of the aristocracy.
Basically, for every family that has a grandson, the grandson will tie his grandpa’s mugshot to a wooden board as a dart target, grit his teeth and throw darts at night, and ride his bicycle to deliver food during the day.
It is not uncommon for someone to be defeated today.
My aunt had not had much contact with this brother who had a bad style during her lifetime, and she only occasionally helped him a few times.
Anna was not even willing to meet him in private like she did with cousin Ole, and she just said hello hastily at noon.
"Absolutely. He recently found a bank in which our family has a stake and wanted to get an interest-free loan of 4.5 million euros."
"I heard"
Cousin Ole looked at Anna's face and said cautiously, "I heard that he wants to build a blockchain exchange for Elena's nft digital artwork. The venture capital department read his plan and said , Um, uh, it’s not too feasible.”
“It’s not too feasible,” Anna asked slowly.
“The original words of the risk control manager are rubbish that can be used to wipe the butt. For people who want to obtain an interest-free loan of millions of euros, even a liar should not be so disrespectful. Be dedicated. Not calling the police is already for your sake.”
Of course Oler knew that the other party just wanted to make some money out of the reputation that the name Elena had accumulated over hundreds of years. Just come.
"Okay. Thank you for telling me this matter, I will deal with it."
Ana slightly turned her gaze away, stared at the sky outside the window, and said slowly .
"Of course, we definitely didn't grant him any money, but Uncle Carla seems to be in a bad financial situation recently. I gave him a hundred thousand euros privately."
"Well done."
Anna nodded and told the housekeeper, "Get my checkbook for me."
The housekeeper bowed and accepted the order.
"I helped him return this money to you. I will write you a check for one hundred thousand euros and remember to take it when you leave."
"This Not necessary. Uncle Kara is also my uncle." Ole smiled.
He and Anna are not closely related by blood.
The reason why they are called brother and sister is because Ole's mother and Aunt Anna are close friends.
The other party is not only Anna's guardian, but also his godmother.
In addition, Ole's mother died early.
He often came to live with Elena's family when he was a child, so he always called her cousin Anna.
"No, I insist."
Anna said, "Please inform me at any time about this kind of thing in the future. If I don't answer the phone, contact my housekeeper."
Oler quietly observed his cousin's face.
He knows Anna very well,
knows what is in the other person’s heartrestricted area.
Anna is an idealist who has an almost sacred attitude towards art and is very mysophobic.
Oler is not surprised that the other party would choose the internet artist as the champion because he offended Van Dorn in the internet celebrity video because of his persistence.
From childhood to adulthood.
Cousin Anna is the kind of person who would do such a thing.
She may not care about the identity of the countess at all, but she is very important to the Irina family's reputation in the art field for hundreds of years.
Someone has invaded the territory in her heart.
Oler could imagine the anger in Anna's heart at this time. He thought that the other party would lose her temper and saw the burning flame of rage in her eyes.
But the other party just lowered his head and quietly signed his name on a check book worth 100,000 euros.
Looking at Miss Elena who was trying to remain calm.
Oler suddenly felt a pity in his heart. He ignored the female star next to him, switched to French, and said suddenly.
"Anna, why don't you marry me" please remember to bookmark it, the latest and fastest website without anti-theft and free reading